Pellegrini: Let's Build Historical Memory to Prevent Offspring of Fascism
Bratislava, May 9 (TASR) – This day is not only an opportunity to mark the victory over an ideology of evil and barbarism but also an opportunity to point to the role of political, social and cultural elites – to build and form historical memory in order to create ethical prevention against the posthumous children of fascism, said Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini (Smer-SD) on Wednesday during a commemorative event at the Slavin war memorial in Bratislava marking the end of WWII.
In his speech the prime minister recalled the tens of thousands of victims, soldiers who fell while liberating today’s Slovakia. “I feel immense respect for all the fallen heroes, and at the same time I feel a strong commitment as a citizen and even more as a political figure not to forget the evil of war,” stressed Pellegrini. In this context, he pointed to the increase in extremism in Europe. “As if with increasing distance from the greatest global cataclysm we’re becoming less and less sensitive to the dangers of spreading ideologies despising democracy and human rights, spreading ideas of hatred, racism and xenophobia,” he said. According to him, therefore, it’s an unambiguous role of publicly active people, politicians across political spectrum, to face this dangerous trend.
Russian Ambassador Alexey Fedotov noted that 6,845 out of the 63,512 Soviet soldiers who fell in Slovakia in WWII are buried at Slavin. “It wouldn’t have been possible to count on the liberation of Slovakia and other European countries from the brown plague without the heroism of Soviet soldiers and their comrades,” stated Fedotov.The event was also attended by General Igor Combor representing the Slovak Union of Anti-Fascist Fighters, Parliamentary Chair Andrej Danko (Slovak National Party/SNS) and other members of Parliament and the Government. Representatives of foreign diplomatic missions in Slovakia, of state and public administration as well as of self-governments also laid wreaths in tribute to heroes who lost their lives for the sake of freedom and peace.
